


Doctor's Note

by mylaminoki



Category: Steven - Fandom, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alien/Human Relationships, F/M, Post-Steven Universe Future, Pregnancy, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:20:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 20,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27340054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylaminoki/pseuds/mylaminoki
Summary: Greg has been asked by Doctor Maheswaran to her office to talk about Steven's conception. She's in for quite the story.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Doug Maheswaran/Priyanka Maheswaran, Rose Quartz/Greg Universe
Comments: 22
Kudos: 49





	1. Doctor's Visit

“Hey there Doc, I mean, Doctor Maheswaran.”

Greg peeked into her office, papers on her desk neatly stacked, a picture of Connie, Doug and herself on a trip to the Space Center. She was finishing signing a patient's records when he walked in. She folded the folder closed and looked up at him.  
Having been nervous all day, Greg sat down in the chair opposed to the desk. When Priyanka had called him asking to come to her office to discuss Steven’s condition, he was sure she was going to want him to come in, which wasn’t possible with Steven leaving town. Meanwhile, Connie had informed her that once Steven had gotten the therapy he desperately needed, he was doing alot better with his erratic transformations.

“Please Greg, you're here for Steven. You don’t have to be nervous. How is he?”

“He’s decided to leave town, go on his own. I support him, but its hard, you know? He’s my son, I still worry.”

“Greg Universe, Mr. No Rules, is a worrying parent too. Never thought I’d see the day.” 

“Its true! With everything happening the past year with Steven, its put alot of the choices I made into perspective. I had really strict parents myself. I wanted him to have freedom to make his own way.” 

Priyanka pulled out Steven’s patient record and jotted down _loose parenting, more restrictions? _on it.__

____

____

“I can understand that, children do tend to rebel if shown too much restriction. Connie went through something similar, but once we sat down and agreed on a better way to communicate, and for me to understand what she really needed, we got to a happy medium.”

“Steven told me about the hospital incident.”

“He did?” Priyanka paused. She didn’t know how much of Steven’s life Greg even knew with his lenient parenting style.

“Yeah, he said you and Connie got in real trouble with some gem mutants and Connie had to use her sword moves to rescue you three.”

“So that’s how he told that story. He’s not completely wrong, but he did leave out some details.”

“Anything I need to know about?” Greg asked coyly.

“Only that I should have recognized Connie’s talents sooner, also that gems needed to be more closely researched to keep people safe. Which is the reason you're here.”

“Me? I know barely anything about gems.”

“You were one of the first documented humans to live alongside them for any length of time. After the hospital incident, I took it upon myself to research the Gems, so I went digging for clues. The only other records I found mention was of Captain Dewey and the founding of Beach City, along with Buddy Buddwick’s papers and stories. With nothing else to go on, I decided to start from scratch, documenting their biology.”

She walked over to the light table and showed Greg the same three slides she had shown Steven weeks before during his exam. They were completely blank other than the white outlines of their gems in the correct spots.

“As you can see the Gems posed a problem, their biology couldn’t be read by normal means. So I kept records and waited for another clue. That clue came when Connie called me and told me about Steven’s condition.”

Walking back over to her desk, she pulls out a second notebook, this one, much thicker and full of loose papers and notes. Opening it up, there are diagrams, charts and writings. They looked more like Ronaldo’s scribblings then the writings of a practicing doctor, but they were good enough until she could properly finish them into the paper she was bound to write after this.

“Steven’s exam not only helped me understand what was wrong with him, but how his biology is different to a normal teenager. I asked Pearl if Steven was unique and she says Steven is the only part-gem she's ever heard of. Which means his birth would have been very different than a normal human, or not. That’s part of the problem, all my research and conclusions are based off the development of a normal human child, which Steven most definitely isn’t.”

Greg listened to her conclusions and became increasingly concerned with what she was about to ask him.

“So that begs to question, I’m missing a piece of the puzzle. Steven’s birth. Hence why I called you.” She said coming around the desk to lean against it, eagerly awaiting the answer to her questioning.

There was a long pause as she finished. Greg sighed, he knew one day he would have to tell someone about it. Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst had asked when Rose was pregnant, but Rose had simply told them it was her decision and with the pull she had over those three, they never asked again.

“You might want to sit down for this one, it’s a long one.”


	2. Can We Talk?

Dancing, her movements, her hair, twirling, it was all he could think about. Fusing, that is what they called it. But he couldn’t fuse, or could he? He was kissing her above the light floor, she smelled of flowers. Roses. But wasn’t she made of light? Can light smell? He was laying on the roof of the van, parked as normal outside the front of the temple on the beach. He would just lay there at night, hoping she would come and talk to him. But this was different, they hadn’t fused but what was next for them?

“Hey there!” Greg nearly fell off the top of the van at the sound.

He saw a purple owl perched on the corner of the roof. It was Amethyst, the shapeshifter. She glowed with purple light and transformed into her toddler form. Greg was confused at the fact that these so-called “warriors of the gem war” chose to be children sized.

“Can I see that thing you made with us? Where Pearl and Rose fuse?”

“Oh! Sure! Let me hook it up.”

Greg hopped down off the van and opened the back, pulling out his TV and amp. Pushing in the cassette, he sat down inside the van, watching the TV from atop the amp he had placed it on. Amethyst laid down on her belly next to him watching, nodding her head to the music.

“So I have to ask, why are you like, kids?”

“These aren't our normal forms silly, we're actually big and strong.” She glowed again, transforming into a tiger-themed wrestler body. The transformation was so sudden, it rocked the inside of the van violently. Greg braced himself and rode out the shaking as Amethyst changed back. “But Rose said that we need disguises to blend in here, so we reformed this way.”

“Reformed?”

“Oh right, you don’t know a lot about us. Gems when they get damaged or get real upset go pop, and when they're ready they reform into something new.”

“So you got hurt real bad and became a kid?”

“No silly! Rose used her sword! It can poof us without hurting us. She’s all like,” Her body again glowing, this time turning into a replica of Rose.  
“The temple will be the best place for us to keep watch over the Warp Pad Network. But you all need new forms to blend in, maybe young humans.” Transforming back, she held her hand in the air, standing as if with a weapon.  
“Then she used her sword _slash slash slash _,” moving her hand in the air.  
“And we all reformed as this, I wanted to be the smallest human because they're so bouncy.” She curled up into a ball and rolled off the back of the van and onto the soft sand. Laughing, she unrolled and laid on the sand beneath her.__

“Gem stuff is so strange, fusing, reforming, shapeshifting, I don’t think I’ll ever understand it all.”

“Pearls the best person to talk to about that kind of stuff, she’s way older than me. Maybe ever older then Rose. I know they both came from Homeworld.” Amethyst had rolled back onto her stomach to finish watching the video. “Do you have more of these?”

“Tons! I have most of them in storage though. I had to clear out the van to make room for more equipment. But maybe if you want to maybe we could go watch some, one of my favorites was this show called Little Butler.”

“Really?!”

Greg laughed at the enthusiasm in Amethysts face. He then heard footsteps near the van. He saw the taller form of Garnet emerge from the side of the van.

“You didn’t ask him did you?” She asked knowing full well the answer.

“Oh, right. Mr. Universe, Rose said she wanted to find out where the small human came from?”

“Small human, what small human?”

“The small human you didn’t make.” Garnet dryly stated.

Sour Cream, Vidalia and Marty’s son. She was half the reason Greg was even here. When Marty had skipped town when he found out she was pregnant, taking most of Greg’s share of their touring money, she had offered to have Greg stick around her house while she went through the trouble of having Sour Cream. He felt bad for taking advantage of her, so he slept in his van, while still using everything in the house, food included. He was paying her back now that he had the car wash job, but he still felt a little guilty. But the bigger question is why Rose wanted to meet Vidalia?

“Sure, I can take you over there in the morning.”

“That is acceptable, come along Amethyst.” Garnet said, waving her hand at the purple person.

“Bye Mr. Universe!”

“It’s Greg!” He hollered after her.

“Bye Greg!”


	3. A Bridge

“So that’s how Amethyst met Vidalia. They’ve been friends ever since. But it gets, _complicated _, after that. It wasn’t just Rose meeting Vidalia, Rose would just start going over there for long periods of time and they would be talking baby stuff for hours. I had no idea why Rose was so interested in babies all of a sudden.”__

____

____

Greg and Priyanka sat in her living room, her having decided that being in a more comfortable environment was better for a deeper and more personal conversation. Greg took a sip of the tea she had made.

“Do you think that being around Sour Cream was the trigger? Some sort of Gem hormone kicking in?”

“I’m not sure, all I know is that a few weeks later, I pulled up to the temple and all I could hear was yelling.” His voice went very serious. 

“Yelling?”

“Pearl and Rose got in a big fight and I saw Amethyst fly over to Vidalia’s and I’m not sure where Garnet ended up, but when I went over there to check, all I found was Pearl in tears and Rose was gone. Pearl screamed at me, saying something about it being my fault that she was going to disappear and I got out of there, I realized only too late what she meant.”

“Disappear?”

“Hate to leave you in suspense but that’s the end of the story, you wanted to know how Steven was made, well, I’m getting there.”

“Quite the storyteller aren’t you.” She said, raising her tea mug in salute.

“I am a Bard after all. So the next thing that happened was Rose showing up at my van weeks later with a scary grin on her face.”


	4. The Fountain

“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” Rose’s face was frozen into a curled grin of what he hoped was joy.

“Like i’m about to be eaten.” He finally admitted.

Rose exploded into laughter, it didn’t help his nerves. She had grabbed his hand before he could even protest the action. Rushing him onto the warp pad, the object glowed beneath him as the pad activated. Blinding light surrounded him as he felt his feet lift off from the ground. Shapes and colors dazzled in his vision as Rose held tight to his hand. In an instant, he was back on the ground, surrounded by thick brambles. A forest of thorns stretched out around them.

“Greg don’t worry, I made this place. Nothing can hurt you, unless I want it too.” Rose said as she walked toward a large wall of thorns.

They seem to part as she walked through them, Greg being careful to stay close to her. He kept staring up at her, unsure of where they were or why he was here. She kept looking forward, a bright smile on her face. Shock and surprise came over Greg as he saw the last bunch of bramble give way to a giant fountain, covered in pink petals. Statues of Rose, with water streaming down her face, adorned the apex. The water was crystal clear and shone like it was made of glass.

“What _IS _this place.” He gasped.__

__“This is my spa, well, it was my spa. We used it during the war to heal Gems. But after the war, we couldn’t help anyone with it anymore, so now it’s just a reminder of what I left behind. We keep it safe just in case, but I think it’s time to use it one last time.”_ _

__“One last time for what?” Greg asked as Rose walked onto the water._ _

__“To create something new. Come on in.” Rose laughed as she began to dance on the water, dancing like she had before._ _

__Should he go in? It was just water, or was it? Why was he second guessing himself right now? He was pulling off his tanktop before he was realizing it and kicking off his sandals. Jumping into the water she swam over to her._ _

__“Hey Rose! I’ll race you to the other side.” Greg panted as he swam furiously._ _

__Rose giggled as she ran then jumped into the air._ _

__“Hey no fair you can fly!” Greg said then dove under the water to release some resistance from stroking above water._ _

__When he gasped up for air, Rose wasn’t on the opposite side, she was toward the center of the pool and he swam over to her._ _

__“I thought we were racing.” Greg asked as she swam over._ _

__It was then he noticed something in Roses hand. A bubble of pink energy with something inside. He didn’t have a good chance to see it before Rose popped the bubble and then grabbed the object, it was a pink ceramic bottle, with a stopper top. It had a pink diamond symbol on the side of it. She uncorked the bottle and then dumped the contents into the fountain's water, turning the water pink. She then reapplied the bubble and then tapped it’s top, sending it to her sanctuary in the desert. It would be safe with her Lion. She then entered the water, its new pigment swirling with the clear water. Great wasn’t sure what she had done but she saw Rose dive beneath the water and he went after her. He held his breath and Rose effortlessly swirled and spun under the water, mixing the pink liquid into the water even more. Once the water had completely shifted she swam back over to Greg. He surfaced for air and looked around himself at the new hued water. Rose surfaced next to him._ _

__“What is this stuff?”_ _

__“Do you really want to know?” She said coyly._ _

__“I kinda do.”_ _

__“It’s normally used in big machines to make gems, but I’m using it to make something else.”_ _

__“Make what.”_ _

__“A baby.” She squealed, clasping Greg’s hands in the water._ _


	5. Connie's Perspective

Footfalls down the stairs as Connie walked down and into the dining room where Greg was seated next to her mother and Doug standing in the kitchen finishing the preparation of their meal. Greg had been there all day, not just talking about Rose, but talking about his years living with the Gems and some of Steven’s adventures.

“Oh, Hi Mr. Universe. Steven didn’t tell me you were coming for dinner.”

“Your mom and I have just been talking about how Rose and I had Steven. Didn’t know if you wanted to listen to all the gory details.” Greg said with a slightly disguised face.

“Are you kidding, I’ve been wanting to hear about it for forever.” Connie waved her hands in excitement.

Her mother, father and Greg looked at her, shocked. The pot of potatoes began to over boil and the tension was only broken by Doug's surprise gasp as he quickly removed the pot from the burner. Connie sighed.

“Come on mom, I’m almost 16, you don’t think I’ve read enough human anatomy books to know how babies are made. Besides, after Steven proposed, I got a little spooked and went on a 2 week women's health crash course. Like you say mom, always be prepared. I even bought a box of condoms for Steven, though we never got to use them.” Connie said blushing at her final statement.

“That’s my girl!” Doug hollered from the kitchen with a mixing bowl in his hands.

Connie laughed at her dad and saw a proud smile overtake the shock on her mother’s face and Greg’s.

“Listen Connie, I told you a long time ago that if you ever needed to talk to another human being who understands what it’s like living with the Gems, you could talk to me.” Greg said, putting his hand on the table as a sign of caring.

“Sure, Mr. Universe, and I’ve always kept you in mind, but it’s weird for me to be asking another adult that's not a teacher or my parents' advice. Pearl was my teacher, so I went to her when I was first curious about all this Gem, Half-Gem stuff with Steven. That's why when Steven had his episode, I had to take him to mom, and called you.” Connie mused.

“You made the right call Connie, Steven was going through a lot then. But he’s doing a lot better now. So that just leaves the question, how are you doing in all this?”

Greg had been worried about Connie for some time, despite Lion being with her. Steven gave Lion to her as a gift, a bridge between them, but Greg was concerned about the long distance between them and what it might do. Connie didn’t answer at first. Doug began putting bowls of food on the table for dinner as Connie finally answered.

“I know one day he’ll find where he needs to be and I’m happy for him trying to find it. But I feel, _lonely _, I guess. He was always there when I needed him, and I got so upset when I nearly lost him, twice. But I realized that, no matter the distance, no matter how far away he goes, he’ll always come back to me. So, I just need to focus on my studies, and wait for him to come back. However long that takes.”__

____

____

Finishing her speech, she looked around at the glowing faces of the three adults around her.

“So what’s on the menu Mr. Maheswaran?” Greg changed the subject as he pulled a spoon from a bowl.


	6. A What?

“A WHAT!?” He pulled away from Rose and began to sink, thrashing in disbelief. He sped over to the edge of the fountain toward his clothes. Rose chased after him.

“Greg, where are you going?” She asked, genuinely confused at his actions.

He got dressed in his clothes and sandals and turned to face her.

“Rose, I don’t know what's gotten into you, but a baby? You’re an alien, how does that even work?”

“I can explain the process that I came up with to make it work so,”

“No, not how Rose, why? I barely know you and you want a baby? That’s a huge commitment, I don’t know if I wanna settle down yet, I mean, I have the job at the wash but, I still want to make music and maybe find a new manager, and,”

_Hic ___

____

____

He looked up and saw Rose with tears in her eyes, it was a jab in the stomach. No, this was too much for him, he was out.

_Hic ___

____

____

_Drop ___

____

____

_Drop ___

____

____

He turned around to her. Being manipulated like this was not okay in his mind, and he was going to let her have it.

“You can’t do this. You can’t stand there and make me feel guilty like this. When I want to be a dad, I’ll find someone. But not, _now _. I have too much ahead of me, I want to write songs, play music, I want,” He balled his fists and glared at her.__

____

____

“I want TO BE A MAN WHO’S WORTH SOMETHING.”

Rose froze. She looked up at him, his eyes wet with tears.

“My folks never gave a damn about me, I want to make something of myself so my kid will actually _like _me.”__

__Rose walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him._ _

__“Does it matter that you’re worth something to me?”_ _

__“I don’t know.” The smell of her hair was all he could focus on, all he cared about right now. “I’m just not where I’d thought I’d be right now. I should have been famous, traveling the world, making a difference.”_ _

__“Travelling is really not what it’s cracked up to be. I should know, I’ve been to countless worlds. Earth is the only planet where I wanted to live the rest of my existence. Maybe spend the rest of it with you.”_ _

__“The rest of it? What do you mean?” Pulling away from her, she looked back at the pinked fountain, not wanting to look him in the face._ _

__“If we decide to do this, I, won't survive it. We’ll create something wonderful, but I won’t be able to stay.”_ _

__“You’ll die, won’t you.” Greg asked, knowing the answer._ _

__“Not really, my form will become a part of our new child, they will be a Gem, like me, but also have a part of you. They will be your child Greg.”_ _

__“How do you know all this?” Greg asked, as he let her go and watched as she walked back down to the water._ _

__“I don’t!” She blurted out, her crazed smile back on her face. “It’s mostly just a theory, nothings ever been done like this before.” She wiped her tears off her eyes._ _

__“Wait, you telling me that you might die from this and you don’t even know how it works? No, Rose, you can’t.” Running over he took her hand._ _

__“I have to try Greg. I’ll never be able to be anything more then what I am, but if I’m right, this child will. They will grow and learn, and love, and,” She turned around slowly and put her hand on his cheek, “They will love you. More than I ever could. Let me do this for you Greg, let me give you my love, by giving you my baby.”_ _

__Greg stood there for a long time. A million reasons why this wouldn’t work ran through his mind, but he knew one thing, she wasn’t walking away from her choice. So he needed to be by her side, for however long that took._ _

__“Ok. I’m in.”_ _


	7. Full Disclosure

_Do do dododo ___

__Connie answered her phone, hearing Steven’s ringtone._ _

__“Hey Steven! You stopped for the night?”_ _

__“Sure am, how is everything back home? I’m at the Atlantic Inn just north of Kaibab Canyon. Do you need the GPS pin?”_ _

__“Nope, I found it.” Connie looked over her map of Steven’s travels putting a new pin on it, wrapping the string tight around it.  
“See anything cool?” Sitting back on her bed in her nightgown, she put her phone on her nightstand, propped up in its holder so she could lay down and listen to Steven, a normal routine now._ _

__“The canyon’s beautiful at sunset, all the colors, I got a bunch of pictures. I just wish you were here to see them.”_ _

__“I know, our breaks next month so I can take Lion out to see you.”_ _

__“How everyone else?”_ _

__“There good, my mom invited your dad over to talk about you today. Real weird.”_ _

__“Should I be worried?”_ _

__“I don’t know _should _you?” Connie replied sinisterly. “Don’t want your dad telling my folks all out your dark secrets?”___ _

____“Considering I turned into a giant monster a few months back, I don’t know how much worse dad can make it.”_ _ _ _

____“True, he was mostly here just talking about your mom.”_ _ _ _

____“Oh,” His voice was low._ _ _ _

____“You ok?” Connie was slightly uneasy about his change in tone._ _ _ _

____Rose was always a sore spot for Steven, seeing how much of her past was linked to the problems he had as a kid._ _ _ _

____“Yeah, dad never talked about her a lot when I was a kid and by the time it mattered, I was hearing all the bad stuff. Like what she did to the Gems.”_ _ _ _

____“Would it make you feel better if I told you that he’s been telling my mom all about how she made you?” She laughed slightly as she rolled over to look at the screen as Steven turned on the camera._ _ _ _

____“HE WHAT? How much did you hear?!” He was dressed in his sleeping sweats and had removed his shirt by this point, his gem visible in the camera. “I need to know everything.”_ _ _ _

___Connie laughed. Typical Steven. Always the last to know anything involving him._ _ _

___“Ok, I’ll tell you, but I won’t know the rest of the story till tomorrow. My folks let him sleep on the couch tonight just like that night during the blizzard.”_ _ _

___“Thank them for me,” Steven said, his compassion getting the better of him. “But seriously, tell me everything.”_ _ _

___“Ok, but I need to get to bed afterwards.”_ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: "Kaibab Canyon" is a Steven Universe equivalent to The Grand Canyon of the US. Kaibab is the native name for the plateau that the Canyon is a part of. This is both to reference the name changes the series makes as well as small nod to the importance of inclusion that Steven Universe has always championed.


	8. A Swim

Rose jumped backwards into the pink water and dove beneath the surface. Greg gave one final sign of reservation and jumped in, the water was still lukewarm, but knowing what it was for made the water colder to his mind. Rose swam under him playfully then surfaced behind him a ways then paddled over.

“So how, does this work?”

“Follow me.” Rose dove beneath the water and Greg followed holding his breath.

The water was still see though and he swam after her as she danced beneath the water, he got lost in the motion of the water, so much that he almost ran out of air, heading toward the surface, he felt Rose’s hand on his and she flew him to the surface for a breath. He dove back under the water, dragging her practically with him. Whatever she needed he was here for it. Time seemed to slow, and as he looked into her beautiful face, she pulled closer to him in the water and kissed him. Would he drown if he kissed back? Did it matter? The bubbles of air rose to the surface and there was stillness.

_GASP_

Greg surfaced and swam to the edge, coughing a sputtering. Rose popped her head up and quickly swam over, seeing Greg in distress.

“Do Gems even have lungs?” His chest was heaving from the lack of air.

“Are you going to be ok?” She asked, her body still half submerged.

“I think so, if this is what it takes, then I’ll just need to get better lungs later.”

Taking another large gulp of air, he dove beneath and Rose was quick to follow. He swam over to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her in to kiss her again, but this time more of the water began to seep in. He held fast to her. Lungs burning, eyes blurring. He started to lose consciousness, sinking, sinking. Then a glow, a light. Rose was glowing. Glowing in the darkness. He felt a hand grab him as he sank. Deeper, down.

_GASP_

_COUGH COUGH COUGH_

Pink water came spilling out of Greg’s mouth, he was on his side on the edge of the pool. He didn’t remember how he got there. He looked around for Rose and saw her standing facing the pool from him.

“Rose,” his voice was raspy, and his chest was burning with pain. Reaching out to her she turned around, and he saw her form was, different. Her stomach was rounder, more protruding, pregnant.  
He shot up.

“Rose! It worked! It worked?” He rushed over and felt her new belly, it was just as whole as she was.

“Yeah, it worked!” She lifted him up into the air and twirled him around, laughing together.

“Wait! Put me down!” Greg hollered as he realized the danger. “You can’t do that anymore, you're in a very delicate state now.”

“I don’t feel delicate.” Rose relied, surprised and looking down at her new form.

Greg wagged his finger at her.

“No heavy lifting, not until after,” he stopped himself from continuing.

After. After the baby came, she would be gone. He got back into his clothes and shoes and walked over to her.

“So how long?” He said, placing a gentle hand on her stomach.

“Long enough for us to enjoy each other as much as we need to. But first, we need to drain this, don’t want anyone stumbling into it. I’m not sure what this will do to another gem.”

“Don’t want too many half-gems running around now do we.”

“DO YOU THINK THAT COULD WORK?” Rose was elated at the prospect of there being more half-gems.

“I mean, well, we don’t know if anymore gems want to, you know, do what we did.”

“I don’t think so. Gems are built for a purpose and getting along well with organics isn’t part of that.”

“You’re a Gem. You made that choice.”

Rose sank her head.

“It’s not, a choice. It’s a need. I need to know if I can make something better then myself.”

“It’s your purpose?”

“Yes.” She lifted her head to stare into his eyes.

“Then it will be my purpose to raise our kid to be amazing.”

He gave her another peck on the cheek. Rose broke away from him and headed down a side entrance to a large door, putting her hand to the console. A door opened and she went inside to see a mass of tubes and a large crystal structure that looked like a heart. Carefully looking over everything, she reached for one of the tubes and pushed it out of its seated possession. Water began to spill out, flowing through the door and down to the brambles around it. The bushes began to shudder and grow rapidly as they reacted to the water. Greg saw the mass of green heading toward him.

“Come on!” Rose grabbed his hand.

Speeding toward the warp pad, the brambles closed in around them. Rose stood on the pad and Greg’s feet never hit the ground as he shot upward and out.


	9. Old Boxes

“Any luck?” Greg said, finishing looking through another box in Vidalia’s attic.

“Nope, nothing yet.” A small purple snake said as it slithered through another box.

“It has to be here. Keep looking Amethyst.” Greg wasn’t frantic, but he was determined to find what he was looking for.

“Why do we need to find this dumb paper anyway? Steven is already born, why do you need to prove it?”

“Doctor Maheswaran wanted to know what hospital Steven was born in. I told her he wasn’t born in a hospital, he was born at Vidalia’s house. Then she asked me who the midwife was and when I drew a blank she asked me to grab Steven’s birth certificate. So we have to find it.”

“Why do you care so much about this? You never used to care about _how _Steven got here, just that he’s here.” Amethyst said, transforming back into her normal form.__

__“I don’t know. A lot of what happened with Steven’s birth are a big blind spot for me, it happened so fast, I was just kind of there for the ride you know.”_ _

__“I hear that, when Rose said she was having a baby, I was so happy for her, but when she said she would disappear because of it, Pearl got so upset, and by that time, I was such good friends with Vidalia that I spent all my time over at her house. It wasn’t until after Steven was born that Garnet came back and said that we needed to try and keep this place safe for him until he got bigger, since Rose was gone now and we needed to protect the Earth.”_ _

__“Did Garnet ever tell you where she went?”_ _

__“She mentioned going on some adventures with a rabbit and frog named Hopper and Hoppy, but otherwise not really. Pearl spent most of that time sulking in the temple.”_ _

__“I really drove a wedge in between you all didn’t I?” Gread said, pulling open another box._ _

__“Don’t sweat it man. Besides, after that, that’s when we got to spend a bunch of time chillin, watching TV with little baby Steven.” Amethyst paused, the memory of the other things Greg and her did shortly after Rose’s vanishing buzzed through her mind.  
She looked over at Greg, who hadn’t noticed her mood shift and she quickly kept looking._ _

__“Still nothing. Maybe he didn’t put it back here then.” Greg said, finishing going though what he thought was the last box._ _

__Curious at his statement, Amethyst walked over._ _

__“Did someone take it?”_ _

__“Yeah, Steven. He must have needed it when he got his license a few years ago. He must have kept the original. We might have to ask Connie to go visit him and get it, or call him to see if he remembers where he put it. I hope I don’t have to call the Delmarva Clerks Office for a new one. Wait, THAT’S IT!”_ _

__Amethyst jumped at Greg’s exasperated cry._ _

__“I could just call the Clerk's Office and ask them to read off what it says.” Greg said, running for the latter down._ _

__Amethyst transformed again into her owl form, flying after her friend. Hoisting the ladder up, it locked into place. With a blink, Amethyst regained her form next to Greg. Dialing the number, the phone rang on the other end._ _

__“Hello, hi, this is Greg Universe and I need to get some information about my son Steven.” A pause. “Yes, yes, I just need to know what the midwife’s name was on his birth certificate.” Another long pause. “Oh! Oh, ok.” Jotting and name down on a piece of paper next to Vidalia’s phone, Greg curled the paper into his pocket. “Thank you, have a nice day.”_ _

__With a slam of the phone, Greg turned for the door, just as Vidalia and Onion came through it._ _

__“Oh hey Vidalia! We were just heading out, didn’t find it, but I got a hold of the Clerk’s Office instead.”_ _

__“You didn’t mess anything up in there did you?” She asked, turning to show her face over the bag of groceries in her hand._ _

__“Nope, it’s all where you left it, promise.”_ _

__“Hey Vidalia, you remember the night Steven was born right?” Greg asked her as she took the groceries to her kitchen._ _

__“Do I, I can still see the look on your face when you came to my door.” She laughed._ _


	10. A Stormy Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: content warning major character death? But if you've seen the series you know. Also, this is my approximation of what Steven's birth would be, using clues from the series.

_CRASH_

Sour Cream, at this time six years old, was huddled on the couch playing video games as rain poured down outside. Vidalia took another drag off her cigarette as young Amethyst, curls in her hair leaned against the back of her chair. The rain had forced the artist and her muse inside for the day.

“No worries V. We can finish up tomorrow, that weird thing you had me turn into today was awesome.”

“Thanks for trying it Amethyst. I do appreciate it.”

_CRASH_

Vidalia looked over at Sour Cream on the couch and put down her cigarette, walking over to her son.

“Hey bud, you ok? I know the thunders’ bad. You wanna blanket or something?”

Her son didn’t respond to her. He hadn’t talked to her in weeks, after she had told him that his dad probably wouldn’t be calling him for his birthday. Marty had told her that it was too much trouble to keep calling “her kid” once a year. He reached over, put his headphones over his ears and slumped down, still staring at his video game. Sighing, Vidalia got back up and walked back over to the table. Amethyst saw how bad Sour Cream was but didn’t want to say anything negative about it to Vidalia. Getting an idea, Amethyst walked over to Sour Cream and turned into the strange creation, wiggling its oblong tendrils.

“Hey sour cream, I’m an alien from another world. UGA BUGA!”

No reaction. Light, and suddenly Amethyst was back in her form. She stormed back to the chair and sat down in a huff.

“Humph, nothing’s going to cheer that kid up, i’ma head out for a while Vidalia, maybe I can find the others and see if anyone’s in trouble out there. Later.”

Amethyst went for the door and opened it.

_CRASH_

Silhouetted in the stormy night, was Greg. He was panting and caring Rose, who was in obvious pain.

“Vidalia! I didn’t know where to bring her.” Rushing inside, he went and placed her on the couch, Sour Cream barely getting out of the way.

“Greg! Take her to a hospital!”

“She’s no human Vidalia or I would have.”

_Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_

Rose’s scream shook the building.

“And there’s that. I’m worried she’d bring the building down.” Greg said, sitting down next to her.

Panting, Rose was in crippling pain. Amethyst ran over to her.

“Rose! What do you need me to do?”

“Find, the, other, gems. I don’t,” Another wave of pain shot through her and she screamed again.

Her form surged, it’s mass becoming unstable for a brief instant. Greg thought he saw a pink bubble under Rose’s belly, where the baby should be. He didn’t see a baby, just an opaque bubble. Was this what her womb was? Greg held her hand as she struggled. Amethyst transformed into her bird form and hovered over Rose.

“I’ll find the others, I promise. Hold on Rose! Amethyst yelled as she flew out the open door.

Vidalia snapped to attention.

“Sour Cream, you need to be a big guy for mom right now. Shut the door then go get me some towels and one of my empty paint cans full of warm water.”

Pulling her hair back with a scrunchie, Vidalia grabbed the phone and quickly dialed a number.

“Yeah Martha, can you get over here quick. Bring your kit. Uh, huh. Yeah I know, Greg’s here with his, yeah, ok. See you soon.”

Vidalia put the phone down and saw Greg holding Rose’s head as she struggled, her form once again surging out.

“Have, to, finish,” Rose was covered in sweat.

Sour Cream came back with the supplies for his mom who began to put warm towels on Rose’s forehead and belly to try and relieve the pain, despite not knowing Gem physiology. Minutes later, and a few screams, a car pulled up in the driveway and a figure walked up to the door. Opening the door, Vidalia looked into her old roommate's face, Martha Barriga.

“How long is she?” Martha asked, pulling out a bag of supplies. 

Greg was confused at the question. “How long is what?”

“How far apart are her contractions?”

“A few,”

Greg was cut off by yet another scream, as Rose started glowing.

“It’s time Greg, the baby’s nearly ready. Tell the Gem’s,”

“You can tell us yourself.” Garnet’s voice came from the door as her three friends stood in the doorway, thunder flashing behind them.

“Goodbye.” Rose reached out and as she began to vanish, her three friends came forward to grab her hand.

A flash, a pop, then a cry. A tiny boy infant lay on Vidalia’s couch, Rose’s pink gem in his belly. The three crystal gems began to cry and held each other as Greg picked up the small boy and Martha helped wrap the baby up.

“Can, can we see her?” Pearl asked walking over, shaking.

“I think it’s a he. I just need to check him over.” Martha took out her stethoscope and checked the small nameless babies heart, lungs and whatever was on his belly.  
“Looks healthy to me, I would just get that, crystal looked at, I’m sure it’s fine, but doesn’t hurt to be safe.”

“It’s his Gem, a part of him. Now and forever.” Garnet announced.

“Oh. Kay. I’m head back Vidalia, thanks for calling me, I’ll call you when I fill out all the paperwork.” Martha picked up her back and equipment and headed toward the door.

“Thanks Martha. Give Little Laramie our love.” Vidalia said as she walked Martha out to her car.

Pearl reached for the small baby, still carefully cradled in Greg’s arms.

“I can’t, I CAN’T ACCEPT THIS!” Pearl screamed and ran into the rain.

“Pearl wait! We have to go after her, Amethyst let’s go.” Garnet ordered.

“But what about Rose?” Amethyst pleaded as Garnet ran out the door.

“Well be back later. COME ON!”

The purple Gem took one hard look at Greg, then back to a fleeing Garnet.

“Take care of her Greg.” Spinning around she transformed and disappeared after her friends.

Greg stood at the doorway and watched them vanish as Vidalia came back inside. There was a long pause between them.

“You can stay as long as you want. Right Sour Cream?” Vidalia asked her son.

The small boy looked over and just gave a hard nod.

“You can come over and say hi if you want to Sour Cream, his name is Steven.” Greg cooed as he held the small, now sleeping boy.

“Steven?” Sour Cream asked as he walked up and gently put his hand on Steven’s poof of a head.

“Yeah. Steven Universe.”


	11. Next Steps

_Sniff_

Connie wiped her eyes, her mom soon after. Doug had sat in silence, his stern demeanor keeping him from crying.

“So she was just, gone?” Priyanka asked.

“Yeah, I barely got to say goodbye. And I was left with a baby in my arms. Rose said that humans aren’t built with a purpose like Gems are, but ever since that day, my purpose has been to be the best dad to Steven I could be. I hope he knows that.”

Connie walked over and put her hand on the shoulder of the elder Universe.

“I know he does. Hey mom, you don’t care if I take an early trip out to see him do you? I got done with my studying for the day early.”

The pleading eyes of her daughter and Priyanka knew why she wanted to go, she wanted to tell Steven everything she heard.

“You don’t care if Connie tells Steven about all this do you?” Asking Greg permission was more important in this case.

“He was going to need to hear it one day, and honestly, I never would have told anyone if it wasn’t for you Doc, er, Priyanka.” Greg corrected himself quickly.

Priyanka looked over at Connie and nodded, the younger Maheswaran running up the stairs to grab her day bag, in case she wanted to sleep over. She whistled when she got to her open window, being met with a distant roar of Lion as he teleported into the driveway. Connie looked over at the Star hilted sword Bismuth had made for her and decided against taking it, and quickly packed her things.

“There are still some missing pieces to the puzzle, namely what she put in the water. I would have loved to get a sample of it, but you said that she emptied it. Another dead end. I think it’s time I stop looking on Earth for the answers I need.”

Just as she finished speaking Connie ran downstairs, bag in hand.

“Ok mom. I’ll be home hopefully in the morning, it might take a while to tell him.” Connie giggled, anyway she could find a way to get extra time with Steven was a plus.

“Take as much time as you need, also Connie, one more thing.” Priyanka hesitated before continuing. “I need you to ask Steven what the protocol is to meet with the Diamonds.”

The room froze. The leaders of the Diamond Authority had recently seen humans as pets at best and Connie still couldn’t get the image of what White did to Steven out of her head.

“Meet,”

“The,”

“Diamonds?”

The room seemed to reply to her request.

“Please, and tell him if my going there is too inconvenient, that I can write up a questionnaire instead.” Smiling with satisfaction, she looked down at the horrified face of her daughter.

Connie collected herself and looked back up at her mom and gave her a big hug. This was the bravest woman she had ever known and this was just more proof of that.

“Ok, I’ll ask, I’ll let you know when I get back, bye mom! Bye dad!” Running out the door, Connie jumped on Lion’s back and vanished in a flash of pink energy.

Meanwhile, Steven had parked his car on the edge of a large ocean turn off, enjoying the sunset over the water and taking pictures.

“That's enough for today, time to find a hotel and a nice bath, then call Connie.” He mused to himself as driving alone was easier when he had a clear schedule everyday. 

As he got into his car, he heard a familiar sound as Lion roared into existence with Connie on his back. Landing with a hard slide, Lion came to a stop as Connie hopped off. Giving the large pink animal a good scratch, she looked over and saw Steven next to the Dondai, stunned. The large animal and Connie both crossed the empty coastal road, watching for any cars.

“You’re, here.” Steven said as Connie ran up and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him.

Feeling her there, he kissed her back, her smell sorely missed. Pulling away from him, she was blushing, as her and Steven were still getting used to kissing. It wasn’t something she didn’t want, it was more what it symbolized, the two of them taking a new bigger step in their relationship. Her beau released her from the kiss but his arms wouldn’t, playfully spinning her around in joy.

“Steven, cut it out. We might fuse at this rate.” Giggling even as she protested.

“Oh, sorry.” Steven began to float back down, just realizing that the two of them were a good few feet off the ground.

He hadn’t lost control of his powers since the Beach Incident as it was now widely called, but he did lose track of his feet from time to time, especially around Connie.

“You weren’t supposed to visit for at least a few weeks. What happened, is something wrong back home?”

Calming down her partner by taking his hand in hers. “No, it’s more with your dad spilling the beans lately to me and my mom, I figured you want to hear the last part in person.” Her head sank.

“It’s about her fusing with me, isn’t it.” His voice was low and serious, knowing full well the answer.

“The way he described it, but maybe I should tell you the whole story. You’ll never guess who was there.” Connie quickly began to liven the discussion up.

“Lars’ mom, yeah, I know. I found that out when I went to get my drivers license two years ago.”  
Steven smirked.

“You’re no fun, I came all this way to tell you stuff and you already know half of it.” Playfully pushing Steven backwards into the Dondai.

Lion had curled up in a patch of tall grass nearby and opened one eye when he heard the soft thud of Steven backing into the vehicle. Giving a chuckle, Steven leaned over and the two youths shared another short kiss.

“I’m sorry, I’ve just had a lot of time to think about what you told me so far. But you’re right. You get to tell me what my dad said, then I’ll share what I already knew. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Hey Lion, we’re heading to the next town to stop. Take a nap and I’ll see you there tomorrow.” Rustling the massive main of the pink creature, he walked over and opened the door for Connie as he got behind the wheel.


	12. Make Up

_Has there ever been half-Gem hybrids before?_   
_If so how many?_   
_Were they sapient?_   
_How were they created?_

Priyanka looked down at her notebook. Was that too loaded of a question? So the process involved a Gem, another species and that strange fluid or was it both that pink fluid and the healing tear water? Fusion and their reforming ability were definitely involved and she didn’t even begin to understand how both of those things worked. Too many questions. Not enough answers. Why was she so bent on this? It was more than just a paper now. Was there an end goal? Priyanka Maheswaran, Doctor of Gem Physiology. Just another title. No, it was the question she’s had ever since Steven came into her daughter’s life. If they have children.

“Would they be part Gem?” Her questions came out of her. The quiet of her office greeted her.  
The answer, in all her research, was no.

Steven, would have had to be female, and it was less reproducing and more sacrificing the mother for the young to survive. No wonder that Steven was the only human hybrid they had ever heard about, the variables were cosmic, literally. But his transformations before had concerned her as well, the Gem version of cortisol in his system, could it’s make up be transferred genetically, and if so, what happens to a human who has that in their system, especially without a Gem to help focus it? She imagined a baby turning bright pink as it cried out for it’s first time, growing huge in size and then, Poof.

“No, I can’t accept that. I have to keep looking.”

It was long into the night and Priyanka looked at her watch. She needed to get home and rest. She packed her work away and walked down to her car, as she did she saw someone at her car. A tall White-haired Gem stood next to her car.

“Greg told me you wanted to ask Steven about going to homeworld.”

“That’s not a problem is it? I just need to know things that Greg doesn’t have the knowledge to tell me. I wouldn’t have to do this if I didn’t think it was important.”

Pearl had always been the responsible one, always looking after Steven’s well being, but even she was at a loss sometimes. She had never felt humans really understood them, but seeing the motherly look in Doctor Maheswaran’s face, she knew the two of them had the same goal, keeping Steven and Connie safe.

“You once asked me to tell you how Gem’s were made and I said no, that humans couldn’t have that knowledge because they couldn’t be trusted with that kind of power. That I was worried that humans might make more of us on earth and hurt the planet in the process. Those reasons were the biggest ones, but there was another. I was scared that if you knew, you might,”

“I might try to find a way to make another hybrid like Steven.”  
Pearl only nodded.  
“I can’t say that thought never crossed my mind, but that kind of work and ethical gray area is not only against everything I am as a doctor, but also everything I am as a mother. Rose died creating Steven, and I would never want to deny any child their mother, if it was my choice.”’

Pearl saw the seriousness and truth coming out of her. Nodding again, she walked over to Priyanka.  
“Then tomorrow, I’ll arrive here and tell you everything you wish to know.”

“Why not now?” Priyanka pleaded, so close to the truth she was after.

“Your species doesn’t do well without proper sleep, we Gems however can stay awake indefinitely.” Pearl said, smirking at the mention of her enhanced make-up.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Pearl walked into the night as Priyanka got into her car and watched the Gem slowly disappear into the night.


	13. Payment

“She wants to WHAT?”

“Yeah, my dad and yours had the same reaction.” Connie giggled as Steven’s shocked face looked into hers.

Wearing his normal yellow sweatpants without a shirt, he rolled over on the queen bed in the hotel in exasperation. Dressed in her long nightgown, Connie hopped off the side of the opposite bed where she was and sat next to him. Leaning down, she kissed his forehead. His eyebrows furrowed, her lips pressed against their fuzzy texture. Relaxing, he rolled onto his side facing her.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea.” he asked her.

“No one does, I was hoping you would have a better answer.” She hopped back over and pulled her body into the center of her bed.

“I mean, maybe if I play it off as her being an Official Ambassador of Earth or something like that. If I make her important, the Diamonds might take her questions seriously.”

“You don’t think they will?”

“The diamonds are, complicated. Ever since I had my episode, they said that I could take all the time I needed before coming to see them, but the more I wait, the more I feel bad. They have been trying, heck they came to Earth to apologize to me and I still won’t go see them. If I just show up and say, hey guys, here’s a human who wants to spend more time with you than me, I don’t know how well that will go over.”

“That’s rough. I’m not sure what I can do to help. It’s not like we could invite the Diamond’s over for dinner. That’s how mom traps anyone she wants to talk to. That’s even how she met my dad.”  
Connie giggled, remembering when her mom did the same thing to force Greg and the Gems to meet her. It was then that she noticed Steven’s face. His eyes had stars in them. Uh oh.

“CONNIE YOU’RE A GENIUS!”

Running over and quickly kissing her, then running past her Steven fumbled for his phone. He scrolled through his phone and checked his GPS. He would have to do some backtracking, but the Beta Kindergarten was the closest warp pad, and it was only a day drive. He could make it and only lose two days' round trip.

“We should get some sleep, I have to be up early, I’m headed to the Beta Kindergarten to head to the galaxy warp.”

“We could take Lion and be there faster.”

“You need Lion with you, I have to send you back in the morning. You can’t miss sleep or school for me, we made a deal.”

“Fine, but just for that Mr. Universe, I need payment.” She stood up on the bed, pointing her finger as her sword and looking determined.

“Payment?” Steven looked concerned, as Connie leapt off the bed at him.

Catching her small frame easily he floated her back down as their two mouths joined. He carried her over to his side of the bed, not wanting to let go of her ever again. Pulling away, she rested her forehead on his.

“Paid in full.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok folks, quick aside. Some of you may have issue with the amount of "things" happening in this chapter. A few notes: Connie and Steven are both consenting mostly adults. They have known each other since they were children. Also, as we have seen in the series, they have a good sense of each-others boundaries. And sorry folks, no smut in this story. Trying to keep it on track with what we would expect, they have been really dating for only about a year, give it time folks.


	14. Geology

“So, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about how Gems are made, and how I think, Rose made Steven.”

“You think?” Priyanka said, her pen ready to take down all notes.

“I’m not positive because I wasn’t there, but when we visited the fountain, and I saw that there was one specific pipe out of place, I knew only Rose would know which pipe would empty the fountain. Which means she put something in it.”

“So you know what that fluid was then?”  
“I do, Diamond Extraction.” Pearl admitted, matter-of-fact.

“Diamond Extraction. And how do the Diamond’s create it?” Not looking up, she wrote it down.

“It was a natural process, at least at first. I was never told how it started, all I know for curtain is by the time Pink Diamond came to Earth, the process had been modified to what it is now. The diamonds use a special room called an Extraction Chamber. There Diamond Extraction, a mixer of liquified salts, water and minerals, is collected and then stored to be mixed with Kinder Fluid to be put into Injectors.”

“Kinder fluid? What makes you so sure it wasn’t that?” Pen flying across the page as she asked.

“Kinder Fluid is a heated graphite created from carbon biomass. On rare occasions when not enough carbon can be found, shattered Gems deemed too far gone to be regenerated are used in creating it. It acts as a thickener and strengthener helping the gems to propagate more quickly.”

“Of course, the Injectors then pump the fluid under the surface, fair enough to create pressure for crystallization.”

“Not too deep, or when the Gem forms for the first time they’ll get stuck, but not too shallow or the gem won’t have enough natural material to mix with.”

“So that’s what causes nothing to grow.” The Doctor said, lifting her head.

“Oh no, that just causes the Gems to have their unique type, most of that mixed material is absorbed by the Gem and the rest is discarded, thrown from a Gems Birthing Hole.” Pearl laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head.

“But that doesn’t explain why the Gem creation completely devoids the surroundings of life. It would seem with all of the materials, Gems are essentially complete when they are injected, they just need time to reform. What’s killing the rest of the earth?”  
Priyanka didn’t realize how angry she had gotten, she was on her feet, staring at the only answer that mattered.

“Us, it’s not draining anything. We’re poisoning it, we're made of salt after all.” Pearl admitted, looking down at her feet.

The realization hit.

“So you salted the earth, so nothing would grow.”

Pearl didn’t speak. She had known this whole time. That's why she didn’t tell anyone, because when she told Pink, everything changed. The horrified look on Pink’s face as Pearl told her the truth, so honestly. Pearl didn’t even know she was doing anything wrong, she was so young, so naive. Just allowing herself to reveal anything and everything her Diamond wanted, even if it was terrible. She didn’t realize tears were falling until Doctor Maheswaran handed her a tissue. Whipping off her face, she looked back at the curious human.

“So if this Diamond Extraction, this Diamond DNA I’ll call it, when mixed with the regenerative waters of the pool, must have had the same effect as the Kinder Fluid, but rather than injecting the mixture into the ground to pressurize it, she used her own form. Greg’s DNA must have been added when he went into the water, contaminating the mixture with his sweat and fluids.”

“I’m not going to lie when I say using the word contaminate when talking about Greg makes me feel just a little better.”

The two women, both having met the doofy, lazy, but heart-felt man both smiled at each other, giving into a laugh. Now it was Priyanka’s turn to wipe her eyes.

“That should be everything, now that I have these notes I can get to work. So here’s my big question, how much of Steven’s DNA is Diamond Extraction? Do you think the Diamond’s might let me take some with me?”

“YOU’RE STILL WANTING TO GO!?” Gasping is disbelief, Pearl threw up her hands.

“Of course, It’s quite the opportunity to get more research done.”

“But I thought,” Pearl babbled.

“Look, I get it. You wanted to be the one to tell me so I wouldn’t be curious anymore. I do appreciate your honesty, but this is a chance to finally put my research to rest, more than ever so I can help Steven, or any other Gem, in the future. Doctor Priyanka Maheswaran does not take kindly to a challenge!” Her final words pointed her finger skyward, before erupting into laughter. “Sorry, old habits, I took theater as an undergrad, it was a lot of fun but my heart was in the sciences, not the arts.” She finished writing a few more notes down then put her books and scribblings into her bag.

“If you are going to go through with this, I’ll come too, Steven may be Pink Diamond, but I’m his royal attendant. I’ll help you keep from doing too many social pho-pas.”

“I would expect nothing less from one of my daughter’s favorite teachers.”

The two exchanged a look of knowing and friendship, then shook hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a few things: yes, this is me flexing my geology credits. no, this isn't QUITE how the science works, but its based around actual science, hence science-fiction. Don't check my math, it'll hurt. if that takes you out of this, my apologies. also, this has been a HUGE speculation for a while and this is my own personal take on how this all works. big HUGE asterisk next to quoting me on any of this for theories for later.


	15. Growing Up

Waking up as her phone alarm went off, Connie looked over at a sleeping Steven, her bundled up under the cover, him laying with the blankets curled around his feet on his side. Peacefully, he slept, nothing like the old days where even his sleep was marred by visions as his psychic powers ran wild. Slipping out of the covers, and stood next to his bedside. This feeling, she knew what it was, all the girls her age had it. But it never really dawned on her how it made her feel. She loved Steven, sure. She had for since before she knew what that meant. Was it the day with the juice box? Was it the day they met, trapped in that bubble? She sat down on his bedside, staring at him. They had done sleepovers before and it was short of a year ago that Steven started sleeping without his shirt on, but she hadn’t been this close to him without it, especially after his training with Jasper. His pink form had changed the most in that time, but it had affected him, a small bit. His shoulders were slightly broader. His arms just that much more toned, but not overly so. He must be keeping up with his training even on the road. Was this, what she wanted? Should she say something to him?  
“Steven, maybe you shouldn’t worry so much about keeping in shape, I kinda like you a little more, soft.”  
She didn’t say it out loud, but it’s what she might say, but was that her right? And there were perks to Steven’s new changing frame, if his powered form was an indication. Taller, leaner, stronger. When he first saw that side of him, she was too distracted with the situation to really think about it. But it was after, while scrolling through her old messages she found the video of Steven in his Pink form saying he needed help. She kept looking it over, this wasn’t swelling, this was abnormal, this was Steven, just Pink. But was it natural? Or could it be? Connie didn’t notice Steven sitting up and turning to look at her.

“You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just with all this talk about you and how you were made and, I can’t say I don’t have a few questions too.”

“Like what?”

“Remember your birthday and you used your shapeshifting to stretch yourself, because you were so worried you wouldn’t grow.”

“Oh that. Yeah, how was I going to know that visiting a bunch of planets with weird gravity would kick start my growth spurt. That and I was with the Diamonds most of the time so I guess part of it was my Gem half wanting to catch up to where it thought it needed to be.”

“That’s just the thing. You haven’t gone Pink in a while have you?”

“Now that you mention it I’ve barely used my powers since leaving beach city.”

“Barely?”

“I’ve taken a bunch of really cool pictures by jumping off the room of the Dondai, but the floating keeps me from hurting myself. Why, do you think I should be using them more? I have been doing exercises with my bubble fists, but that’s just to keep flexible. If you want to I can show you, I was just about to go outside.” Steven pulled his shirt on and walked into his flip flops.

“No, that’s not it. I just, wanted to know if you don’t use them anymore, you’ll stay this way.”

“Don’t worry Connie, my powers won’t disappear if I stop using them. I should have thought you knew how Gem powers,”

She held up her phone with the video, and Steven stopped.

“STEVEN’S HERE TO HELP! STEVEN’S HERE TO HELP! HELP STEVEN! HELP!”

He took the phone from her and looked at it as it played. He hadn’t seen it since she showed him it before. Connie watched as Steven began to glow and his form grew a few inches, his shoulders broadened and his hair grew slightly, his diamond eyes looking down at the screen. He pressed his now pink finger on the pause button. He handed her the phone back and looked at her. Breathe 2, 3, 4. Focus, 2, 3, 4. He began to shrink back down to normal size and the glow faded.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what I was doing I,” Conny stammered.

“I get it. It’s ok. I’ve been wondering about it myself. It’s funny, if everything wouldn’t get so messed up everytime I did it, I wouldn’t mind being in that form more.” 

“Really, why?” Connie asked, walking toward him.

“It feels good. Strong, taller, I even kinda like the hairdo. But it’s just not possible with how dangerous it is. Unless, here let me try something.”

He took a few deep breaths then closed his eyes, it was just like what he had done all those years ago when he wanted to impress Connie at his birthday. When he opened them, Connie was visibly blushing.

“Did it work?”

Nodding, Connie walked up to him and put her hand on his shirt, barely hiding his now muscular chest. He wasn’t glowing.

“But is this a good idea? Amethyst warned you before about being shapeshifted all the time, and I saw what that did. You might lose all your progress.”

“I’ll only do it when I need to, until I can make up the difference.” Steven gave a smirk then changed back.

“You really think you can?” Connie coyly raised an eyebrow. “You’ll have to do a lot more if you want to make those kinds of goals.” 

“You’re right. Once I settle down, I might want to get a gym membership, or maybe get a home gym with those cool power weights.” Steven flexed his now flabbier muscles and Connie giggled when she saw his face grimace.


	16. New Frontier

The read out of Steven’s blood plasma had been abnormally high concentrations of sodium but otherwise read normal. Had she missed something? Where was his normal mineral coming from, if he was mostly Gem, where were all the calcium, potassium and other minerals from? Maybe the healing water? If it’s properties are meant to rapidly repair cells as well as minerals, it would explain why Steven’s healing powers healed Connie's eyesight, those were definitely connected. She read the readout from Steven’s saliva, high concentrations of protein, which would make since seeing how protein is necessary for cell growth, but nothing abnormal. She was beginning to think she should have taken a bone marrow sample. No, that kind of procedure is only a last resort for a patient and with the amount of trauma Steven was going through at the time, it would have been out of the question. Even now, it’s a risky procedure, due to the pain it puts the patient though. But it might be necessary, also, with Steven’s self healing being so rapid, maybe he wouldn’t be hurt by it as much as normal humans are. She could at least ask him, let him know the risks up front, let him decide if it’s best. Maybe that’s why Greg never brought Steven to a doctor, not wanting his son treated like a lab rat.

“I’ll be in the waiting room when you’re ready.”

Pearl was standing opposite Priyanka’s desk, the doctor had barely heard her walk in.

“Just finishing up collecting my notes and supplies, shouldn’t take too long.”

Pearl nodded and walked out the door as Priyanka loaded up her notebook, her papers and a travel kit full of supplies, especially pipettes and sample containers. She had no idea how she was going to take a sample of the Kinder Fluid, Pearl mentioned it needed to be heated, but did it need to stay in its headed state all the time? If it solidified, was it unusable? She wrote down those two final questions in her notebook and went down to the waiting room. She planned to meet the Diamonds as Doctor Maheswaran, not just as Connie’s mother. When the Diamonds came to earth the first time almost three years ago, she was more concerned about Connie than anything else, so it wasn’t a priority. Does she regret it? Seeing Pearl in the waiting room, they walked out to her car and Pearl directed her to Little Home World, the warp pad there, being closer then the beach temple. Exiting the car, Pearl saw a familiar face walk over to them.  
“Hey Pearl, if you were dropping by, I would have cleaned up.” Bismuth said, her body covered in dust from the work she was doing.

“I’m not here long, I’m heading to Homeworld today with Connie’s mother, she’s a human doctor who wants to learn from the Diamond’s about Gem production.”

“Sounds serious, do you need me coming along?”

“We should be fine, but just in case, I'm letting the others know we're leaving.” Pearl said, texting to the Group Chat set up for Garnet, herself, and Amethyst.

Heading out from the LHW warp is all it said, with a star at the end.

“What’s the protocol?” Priyanka asked Pearl, trying to act formal.

“Let’s head to the galaxy warp first and I’ll give you the details. Mind the edges and you might feel a slight bit of dizziness once we land.”

Priyanka took a breath and stood on the crystalline pad, which immediately sprang to life. The feeling was immediate, her body rocketing upward and out, like a high speed elevator. Clenching her fists and breathing, she calmed her heart rate down as she had practiced all those years ago when she was pregnant with Connie. Within moments, she was back down on the ground, but now standing on a wide bustling open area, the warp had become a hub for new Gems coming to Earth, booths with information on the new Earth locations and sights were set up. An orange topaz was selling Steven Universe T-shirts. Sign ups for Little Home School were also there, along with a blue Gem with baggy pants standing next to a Gem with Green shades.

“Pearl! We didn’t know you were going to be here. Who’s your friend?” Lapis asked flying over with her water wings.

“This is Connie’s mother, a human doctor going to see the Diamonds.”

“Wow, hope they don’t smash her flat thinking she’s a bug.”

The horror on Priyanka's face was hard to hide, this Gem had to be joking, right?

“Oh no! They wouldn’t do that. The Diamond’s are quite understanding of humans now.” Pearl replied.

“Worse thing, they might throw her in a zoo with the other humans.” Peridot said as she walked over, her tablet hovering near her head.

The two friends couldn’t stand the look of worry on the doctors face and exploded into laughter. It wasn’t helping.

Peridot walked over to the doctor. “Look we’re sorry, you’ll be fine, we promise. It’s more Steven was the reason that us and even the Diamond’s changed for the better. But Steven’s Steven, there’s no way to know what they might think of a normal organic speaking to them. So don’t be surprised if they don’t take you very seriously. Why ARE you visiting the Diamond’s anyway?”

“Actually, Peridot, you were a Kindergartener right? Maybe you can help and she won’t have to go.” Pearl said hopefully, looking down at the Green Gem.

“Sure! Come into my office.”


	17. Desert Rose

After Steven got done with exercising, giving Connie a kiss goodbye and taking a quick shower, he loaded into his Dondai and headed back east, back to the Beta Kindergarden. Inviting Connie’s mom, and maybe even Connie to a Diamond Ball, would be perfect. The Diamonds would get to know her and be able to answer all her weird science stuff and he would be able to show Connie more of Homeworld, she didn’t get to see much of it last time she was there, maybe this would be the last thing he needed to do before Connie’s mom would let Steven take her offworld to all the different planets he’s visited. Some of them were really beautiful. And any chance to be with her was ok in his book. He licked his lips, her durian lipbalm, no, he had to focus. Was that normal? Connie seems to be on his mind more and more these days, maybe it was him being by himself so much. He should ask his therapist about it next week. He was down to monthly appointments, just to give him that lifeline in case he needed to talk to someone. Listening to the radio, he sped into the night, arriving at the Kindergraden long after the sun went down. He pulled his camping gear out of the back of the Dondai and set up. With all the corrupted Gems repaired, the dangerous thing out here was the occasional scorpion, and even then, his Gem healing would keep him from getting injured too badly. As he pulled his shirt off, he heard a sound and put it back on. Footsteps, heavy ones. He turned and saw a large figure in the lantern light, an orange Gem. 

“What are YOU doing here, my Diamond?”

“Jasper, last time I saw you, you were at Little Home School, why are you here?”

“If you must know, Little Homeworld is far too BORING. No one with my combat experience or my strength. The Crystal Gems can protect that place, I need a greater challenge. So I returned here, to the place of my birth. But all I’ve found is bugs. Where are YOU here?”

“I was going to take the warp to the galaxy hub, I need to see the Diamonds about something.”

“Not retreating back to your home I see. That’s what I thought when I saw you arrive.”

“No, I’m not going back to Beach City, at least not yet, I still have a lot I want to see. This is more for Connie’s sake, her mom is curious about Gems. I wonder why she’s so driven to do this now, after all this time.”

“A human wanting to know about Gems.” Jasper harrumphed. “It’s none of their business. Humans should just let us protect them, we can take care of ourselves.”

“Have organics ever been curious about Gems before?”

“We don’t ask. Before the humans, no life forms other than Gems mattered. Even then, Pink Diamond’s zoo was the first place we bothered to keep them safe. That is until you.”

“I did change a lot didn’t I.” After a long pause Steven looked back up at Jasper. “Did you ever think about going back to Homeworld? I’m sure Yellow Diamond could find a place for you. She even said to me that she could fix your horns if you wanted her too.”

“No, I can't go back. Earth was where I was made, Earth is where I will stay.”

“Maybe that’s what led you back here, and why I’m heading to the Diamonds, to find out how our environment made us. Connie’s mom’s been asking a lot about how I was made, what my mom did, how much of a Gem I am and what amount of human I am. I’m not sure how I feel about all this, I came to accept the why but never the how.”

“I’m not sure how Pink Diamond made you, but the why is obvious.”

“Huh?”

“She made you to be the greatest Gem ever made.”

“Thanks Jasper, that means a lot coming from you. I have to get some sleep.”  
Stevn curled into his sleeping bag.

“I will protect you as you rest, my Diamond.”  
Bowing a salute, Jasper sat on the hood of the Dondai and looked out over the desert landscape.


	18. Kindergardening

Peridot led Priyanka to a small garden that had been set up for the Gems to meet up, a Steven Statue in the center. Finding a bench, Peridot floated her tablet down and began to pull up all her old files while Priyanka pulled out her notebook.

“Alright, first the Kinder Fluid necessary for Injection, does it need to be kept at a constant temperature and can it be transported in a solid state.”

“Wow, you really have done your homework. Yes, it can be stored as a solid but typically isn’t due to its extremely high melting point. It’s why when Injectors are abandoned they can’t be reactivated because the Kinder Fluid has solidified. Larger Injectors for planet scale Kindergardening, where the entire planet is going to be used for Gem production rather than just a select location, we pressurize the Kinder Fluid so we can keep more fluid at that temperature without it solidifying towards the Injection point.”

“And the Kinder fluid is old Gems and carbon mainly, correct.”

“Mostly, but there are other trace minerals that do end up in the mix, we don't tend to worry about it too much, unless we're trying to create a specific type of Gem. As long as the Kinder fluid is 98% carbon by volume, it functions correctly.”

“What trace minerals?”

“Let me take a look.” Peridot, said, flipping though her files.

“See here, on Earth, most of the Kinder Fluid that was made for the Alpha Kindergarden was from homeworld, pure carbon, but after the transition to the Beta Kindergarden, they were just using whatever they could find, look at these readouts, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and a lot of Calcium. It’s a wonder the Gems even formed correctly. Though considering Jasper came out of there, maybe she got the only good stuff.”

“Jasper? Another Gem?”

“She was created in the Beta Kindergarden and, between you and me, her Birthing Hole was one of the most perfect I had ever seen.”

“So would you consider her a Gem baceline? A control to test other Gems against? That could help in my research. The problem is all Gems seem to be very different in their make up. All humans are different but we are all baseline the same species. It’s very hard to nail down the Gem genome so I can separate it from Steven’s genome.”

“Genome? What’s that?” Peridot asked, extremely confused.

“It’s the blueprint for any lifeform that gives it it’s directions for what it turns into. A fish genome makes it a fish, a human genome a human, there are small differences like a person with lighter hair will have a slightly different genome then one with darker hair but that's a tiny change on a massive blueprint.”

“Oh! That’s called a Gems type. Our type comes from two factors, our Diamond’s Aura Extraction, and the environment where we were made. I was made on homeworld, but I was made with Yellow Diamond’s Aura Extraction, along with all the other Peridots made in that Facet. Peridots were made to keep everything running, Kindergardens, machinery, all sorts of stuff, and I was one of the last few made on homeworld, which is why I can’t do a lot of what the other Gems can.”

“So if Pink Diamond used her Aura Extraction you called it, but she used herself as the environment, she didn’t put Steven in the ground, she put him inside herself.”

“Weird, I never really thought about how Steven was made. Until I found out he was the son of Rose Quartz, I thought he was just some pet of the Crystal Gems. Before I had time to really think about what he was, we were already becoming friends and, it seemed too personal to ask.”

“That’s what I’ve been seeing, Rose, er, Pink Diamond made Steven out of some kind of drive to do it, not really sharing in the how or the why. It’s almost like I'm chasing a ghost. Thank you for your input, I have more of my questions answered but the most important ones.”

“So you're still going to talk to the Diamonds?” Peridot asked as she watched Priyanka get up. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help Steven more, I owe him for everything he’s done for me.”

“You’ve actually helped me quite a bit. I’m only really down to one question: who showed her how to do this? I don’t think she came up with this process on her own. It was based in a technique, maybe an old one the Gems no longer use. The Kinder Fluid is made of shattered Gems, that might be the key to this. I think Rose used herself as a seed crystal, and I need to meet with the Diamonds to prove it.” Priyanka said, heading back up to the warp pad.

Peridot at first was confused at her conclusion, then her eyes went wide.

“The cluster!” Peridot’s yelp stopped Priyanka and she turned back around.

“The what?”

Peridot ran up to her so they could avoid the many Gem eyes that were staring at them now.  
“It’s a gem fusion weapon at the center of the earth, Yellow Diamond created it after the Gem war on earth, I knew she was creating gem fusion experiments from shattered gems but I never knew why, maybe Pink used that technique to fuse herself WITH an organic.”

“You have a great theory, but it’s only slightly flawed, if that were the case, there would have been another human,”

Priyanka froze, no, but he said, the pool. He said he didn’t remember how he got to the side of the pool. She furiously ran through her notes. Pink water. Pool. Waking up. Pregnant. Fusion. Kinder Fluid? Her head was spinning.

“Doctor Maheswaran are you ok?”  
That voice, she knew that voice. She pulled her hand away from her face, looking into the face of a young man, black hair, pink jacket.  
“You don’t look so good.”

Steven walked over and took her hand, walking her back down to sit.

“I’m sorry Steven, wait, what are you doing here?”

“Connie said you were wanting to meet the Diamonds so I was hoping to beat you there and help out. Don’t want the first big meeting between my two families to happen without me.”

Two families? What did he, mean, by that?

“Steven, I’m so sorry. If this isn’t possible, then I’ll have to finish my paper with what I have, just a hypothesis, nothing else.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, you’re right, it is time I found out how I was made. I might be the only one of my kind, or maybe not, I don’t know. The Diamonds always told me I was unique, but maybe not. We won’t know till we find out.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’re my mom too, if this matters to you, it matters to me.”

His bright eyes were determined, driven. Maybe this is the part of his mother shining though.

“My Connie’s really lucky to have you, and yes, Connie did eventually tell me what happened on the Beach. The proposal.”

Steven’s mood shifted, taking a few breaths, he asked.  
“She did?”

“It was after the hospital visit, we were a little upset but when she said that she told you not now, but some day, we realized that you two will always find your way back to each other. When that day comes Steven, you have our blessing to ask Connie to marry you.”

“REALLY!?”  
Nodding the young man gave her a huge hug, which she gladly returned.

“So what do you say, help your future mother-in-law put this mystery to rest?”

“After you, Doctor Maheswaran.” Steven replied, giving an over-the-top bow.

The duo headed over to the warp pad, waved to Pearl, Peridot and Lapis and with a flash of light, vanished toward homeworld.


	19. Young Love

A tall man walked up to her standing on a familiar hillside, she saw his shadow before she saw the rest of him. Turning around she saw his curled cwaf nested on his head, his loving eyes, his white buttoned shirt hanging open to show his fit and muscular frame. 

“Connie.”

The words were barely out of his lips before she ran over to him, his arms wrapping safely around her. His head tilted down and kissed her, his smell and taste was overwhelming. Pulling away, he smiled at her and then she heard a sound. The screech of a horse. Hoofprints ran up next to her and Steven and she saw a purple maned horse with a deep violet Gem on its chest. Steven walked over to Amethyst horse and easily mounted, holding out his hand to Connie. She took it, and was pulled onto the horse with such ease she felt as if she was floating.

“Giddy up!”

Amethyst burst into a run, Connie nearly falling from the spot in front of Steven, but his strong body kept her anchored.

“Steven where are we going?”

“Some place I know you’ll like.”

They rode for what seemed like hours, her curled up near him, but she began to worry about how long he had been like this. She was about to bring it up when Steven stopped Amethyst and dismounted reaching his arms up to gently lift Connie from her seat. Her kissed her again, for a moment and then put her down. She looked around and saw a beautiful field of pink daisies surrounding them. The fields stretched in every direction.

“Do you like it?”

“Steven it’s beautiful, where are we?”

“Right where we need to be. Come on.”

They frolicked in the fields, tumbling, jumping, him floating above her as she danced through the flowers. He took her hand and spun her around, her feet coming out from under her and landing on the smooth, soft flowers below her. Steven floated down and laid down next to her, looking deep into her eyes.

“Connie, do you, like me like this?”

It was then she realized how long he had been this way.

“You have to change back, or you’ll, I’ll, I can’t lose you again.”

Gently touching her cheek, he nestled up against her.

“You’ll never lose me again. I swear it.” He came in for another kiss.

“I, I, want,”

_BRINGBRINGBRING_

“Ah!”

Tumbling out of her bed Connie hit the floor, sheets tangled around her legs.

“Connie, are you ok?”

“I’m fine dad, just fell out of bed.”

“Careful sweetheart. Breakfast is ready when you want it.” His muffled voice echoed up her stairwell. 

She looked over at her bookshelf and saw the image of a dark-haired man, muscular and tan holding a woman with long dark hair riding a horse tucked in next to her textbooks. Cheesy romance novel dreams strike again. She had dreams like that before, but with Steven in his more, normal, form. She had read about this, the damsel-in-distress troupe. But she wasn’t one, she had her own sword, she knew how to fight. She didn’t need rescuing. Maybe it was because Steven was gone, and she wanted to be around him so badly, no matter what form he took. Maybe next time she visits she could talk about it to him? No, it was too embarrassing.  
“Hey, I keep dreaming about you showing up at my door and taking me far away.”  
They could ride off on Lion together. Walking downstairs, she saw her dad in the kitchen.

“Did mom go into the office early?”

“Oh, I thought she told you. Today was her Intergalactic mission to the Gem Homeworld today.”

“Wait, she already left?! I thought we were going with her?”

“Now honey, this was all you mom’s idea, you know how she is when she wants an answer.”

“I know I just figured I’d be there when it happened.”  
“I’m sure she’ll tell us everything the minute she gets home. She’s gone with Pearl, she’ll be fine.”

“Ok dad, if you think so. Then I won’t worry.”

Connie took a seat at the table as her dad placed a bowl of rice with raw eggs in front of her, which she gleefully consumed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HORMONES AM I RIGHT?! also, the bait and switch was totally an excuse to write a little light smut and keep it in context. I hopefully plan on diving into that territory in another fic, but this is not that fic.


	20. Eureka

A flash of light and a soft pinging sound later, Steven stood on the warp pad on Homeworld. Turning around he was the older Maheswaran rather dizzy on the pad and helped her walk it off.

“Don’t worry, you get used to it. I need to go find our guide, be right back.”

Running off toward the palace, Priyanka saw all of the Gems walking around and saw many wave at Steven as he passed, and some gave her curious stares, a new human in their midst. Running back Steven was followed by a pink Gem, a upside-down heart on her chest scurrying behind them.

“Ooooooooooo, she does look just like Connie. Hi there! I am Spinel, the Diamonds royal attendant. If you wish to speak to the Diamonds, Steven must be present, he is the royal ambassador to all organics. You may ask any questions you would like but know that not all questions can be answered.” Spinel’s voice became low and proper, her goofy nature undermining the seriousness of the situation.

“Thanks Spinel, I do appreciate it.”

“No worries Steven, I’m just so glad you're back. Ever since you got better, we’ve been wanting you to come visit.”

“Yeah, and I’m sorry for that. I’ve been focusing so much on exploring Earth that well, I wanted to keep my feet on the ground for a while.”

“Speaking of ground, did you hear that Yellows was trying to start an excavation into digging up the cluster? She wanted to talk to you about it, but heard that you had gone traveling.”

“Maybe we should talk to her first then.”

“THEN RIGHT THIS WAY!”

The large yellow doors leading into Yellow Diamonds chamber slid open and Yellow was sitting on the floor with three Gems in front of her, all Lapis Lazulis. She touched one on the head and her form shifted to be more muscular and with pants and a tunic rather than the dress she was wearing. She touched another and her form shifted into a much shorter version, the same size as a ruby. The third was made much taller, but still lean and thin, the three Lapises turned and gave big bows. It was then that Steven saw three other Gems on the side of the room, a Ruby, an Orange Cream Quartz, and a tall thin Green Gem. The Lapises ran over to their respective partners and Steven gave a smile as he saw them all leave.

“Ah Steven, welcome back. We’ve all been hoping you would stop by once you were feeling better, how _are_ you feeling?”

“Much better thanks. But the real reason I’m here is this is Doctor Maheswaran, she’s Connie's mom and wants to ask you about the origin of Gem Kind, if that's ok.”

“An organic interested in Gem creation? How unusual. I can tell you how the natural Gem process was modified to what it is now, but I’m afraid the genesis of our species is a bit of a blind spot.”

“How so?” The doctor found a small ledge to seat herself and pulled out her notebook.

“Perhaps I should start at the beginning. White, Blue and I were the first of what you would call the First Era Gems. We found remnants of technology scattered about on the surface of the planet, and found it torn apart, cracked down the center. After we took some time exploring our new surroundings, we found broken geode-like crystals that were scattered for miles across the surface, some buried deep beneath the ground. Soon, Gems began bursting out of the ground as we began to finish collecting what technology we had found. The small gems began to show us that they had a wide array of abilities, shapeshifting, controlling metal, creating weapons. We weren’t sure what to make of it, but Blue and I had both agreed that since White emerged first, and she was the most intelligent, at least at the time, she would be our leader. It was the best way to create a well organized system. It was shortly after that that we found something buried deep within the planet. A dead organic, frozen in amber.”

“An organic, on Homeworld, where?” Steven asked excitingly.

“White moved the creature to a safe location away from prying eyes. What's more interesting is that same cavern we found the creature is where Pink emerged a few centuries later. Pink emerged one day out of nowhere and the three of us had no idea what to do with her. Our people fell head over heels for her and once more, when Gems had conflicts bad enough that they cracked each other, at the time, we would just shatter them, for their remnants could be planted in the ground of Homeworld as Gem Seeds, but the process took a while. Years rather than weeks. With Pink, we could repair broken soldiers and they loved her for it.”

“Wait, so Shattered gems can make new ones? I thought once a Gem was shattered, that was it?” Steven asked as the doctor looked up.

“Technically it is, When a Gem shatters into a Gem Seed, they stop being who they once were and grow into a completely new Gem, mixing with the surrounding matter to create something new. That's why many of the Gems before we began the purified Injection Process were banded varieties and were much more prone to in-fighting. It was tiring work keeping all the Gems from fighting, but we eventually did it. Blue turned their anger into calm, White filled their heads with purpose and I shattered any that didn’t conform. I know now this was a terrible mistake.”

“Did you ever do any experiments with organic and Gem hybridization? Steven tells me you used to do experiments on Gems.”

“Hybridization never. We saw organics as a fuel source, not an equal I'm afraid. I place to gather more salts and matter for our creation. A lot goes into making a Gem: pressure, salts, minerals, liquids, heat. All in very precise amounts. One wrong thing and you get a Common Ruby rather than a rare and beautiful Sapphire.”

“Wait, you said liquids, in all my research you only need the Kinder Fluid and the Diamond Extraction.” Looking up from her notes she saw a pleased and curious look on the Giant Yellow Gems face.

“I am not easily impressed by organics, but your friend Steven has done her research.”  
Steven looked over and gave a thumbs up to Priyanka.  
“But yes, we do need liquids both to use in the Extraction process and also to change the mixture used in Injecting Gems. Liquid Methane, Purified Water, Lapis Lazuli take four other elements alone before we can inject them in just the right location, which is why they are so rare.”

“Steven, that might be it. Your mother’s healing water, her tears, they must have had dissolved proteins, and other nutrients that were enough to jump start the process, as well as your father’s DNA.Then when she added the Pink Extraction she added the salts for the Gem process to begin, tricking it into thinking your mother was a shattered gem, and using her own gem as the seed. BY ENSTAINS MUSTACHE I GOT IT!”  
Leaping off of the ledge, she held up her notebook in triumph. Seeing the look Yellow and Steven were giving her, she put her book back in her bag.  
“Or at least that’s the theory.”

Yellow placed her massive chin on her check.

“Your theory has some merit. But we won’t know for sure without proper testing.”

Steven and Connie’s mother looked over at Yellow in horror. Realizing what she had said, she gave a hearty laugh.

“Oh no! I would never think to ask another Gem to create someone like Steven, or even myself for that matter. No, I was hoping to find a willing gem to incubate a lesser organic creature and see if the theory is sound. I would mean the Gem would be giving their form up for this endeavor, but all in the name of solid science.”

Looking over at the young man, Priyanka saw that he was extremely uncomfortable, sweat gathering at his temples.

“While I think that it might help Steven in the future, I can’t ask a sentient being to give themselves up just to prove my theories.”

“That is quite noble of you, and fine, while I’ll admit it would have been a grand experiment, I too, will refrain. But all this talk of Steven creation, why are you, a human, interested in it?”

“When Steven came to me looking for help, I was at a loss to how to help him. I know next to nothing about Gem makeup to help him. As someone who prides themselves in their work, I was hurt that I couldn’t help him.”

“You're a healer. If I would have known that, I would have helped you long ago. I can give you everything I have on Gem Research, you might have to learn Gem Glyph to read it however. Also, Blue’s research into Gem Psychology would also be helpful.”

“Thanks for all your help Yellow. I’ll meet you at the warp pad Mrs. Maheswaran, me and Yellow need to talk Gem stuff for a second.”

“Sure Steven, take your time.”  
It was almost like she was in grad school again, now to get back home and finish writing her paper.


	21. Warp Tour

“Connie, I’m home and I have great news! I got what I needed to finish my paper! Connie? Doug where is she?”

“She heard you had left and went to visit the Gems, she took her sword with her.”

“I hope she’s not too upset. Oh! Also, look what Steven, sorry Pink Diamond presented to me.”  
She held out a white flute looking object.

“Oh, what is it?” Doug asked, mesmerized.

“A warp whistle, I can use the Gem Warp pads all by myself now. You are looking at the Current Earth Ambassador to Homeworld. He said it was a title that was meant to Connie, but since she’s still working through school, it was his idea to give it to me for everything I’ve been working on. I might head down there and give Connie the good news. Want to come with?”

“And miss the look on her face? Never in a million years.”

The two of them left and got into her car, heading down to the beach. Connie was busy doing sword drills with Bismuth, her star sword clanging against her shapeshifted hammer hand.

“Good job Connie. Hydrate up and well go again.”

“Thanks Bismuth, I really needed this. It’s weird, I shouldn’t be this angry at my mom. I went to Homeworld before her, I met the Diamonds before her. Why am I so mad?”

“Not sure Connie, have you talked to Steven about it?”

“No, I don’t want to bother him.”

“Connie, if something’s upsetting you, he’s going to want to know, this is Steven Universe we’re talking about.”

“Connie!” Pearl’s voice came from the now home to Greg Universe. “Can you come in here please.”

“Wonder what she wants.” Coniie packed up her bag quickly and headed up the stairs of the deck and into the house. Pearl was standing in the living room, with someone else standing near the Warp Pad. A large Orange Gem with green spots. Jasper.

“What’s going on Pearl?”

Pearl's face was pressed and nervous at the Gem who was standing in the room. Before she could answer, Jasper spoke.

“My Diamond requests the human called Connie to join him, I will escort you there.”

Walking back onto the Warp pad, Connie followed, her sword still flung over her shoulder.

“Is Steven alright?” Pearl asked.

Jasper ignored her and activated the teleporter, lighting up and the two vanished. Meanwhile down at the beach, the two Maheswaran’s drove up, looking for their daughter. Bismuth and Pearl saw the vehicle and walked outside, giving each other a nervous glance. Getting out of the car, they walked up towards the two Gems walking down.

“Hi there Doctor, Mr. Doctor, now don’t be alarmed, but Connie is no longer here at the moment.”

“Wait, what? Where is she?” Parental warning bells going off in her head.

“Apparently Steven wanted to speak with her and she left on the Warp Pad, I’m sure she’s fine.” Pearl explained. “If she’s not back in a short time, We’ll go after her. She does have her sword with her.”

“Why wouldn’t Steven just come back here to talk to her, he’s been really insisting on not returning, even to visit when he has the means to.”   
Priyanka asked, crossing her arms.

“I’m not sure, he even sent Jasper to go get Connie rather than coming himself.”

“You don’t think,”

The Gems and the two parents looked at eachother. Running over to the Warp Pad, it activated with a flash.


	22. Sandstorm

The Beta Kindergarden was covered in a thick sandstorm and Connie could barely see anything as they arrived.

“Come with me, my Diamond awaits for you nearby.”

Jasper walked into the storm, Connie following, her hand in front of her face. Jasper was a shield for most of it but after a few feet, she saw the Dondai, with someone standing next to it. Walking closer the person came into view more. A pink jacket fluttering in the wind over his shoulder, a black star shirt covering his chest, his hair waving in the wind. Holding out his hand a giant round pink shield materialized on the side of the Dondai, shielding them from the wind. He walked up to her and nodded at Jasper. Giving a salute to his leader, Jasper left, leaving the two alone.

“Don’t tell me you went all the way to Homeworld without me and had to make a show of it when you got back. You’re such the drama queen.”

“Sorry, if you want to we can go when you have your break. Anything you want, name it. I even did this for you because I wanted you to know that no matter where I go, I love you.”

“Wait what do you mean ‘did this for me?’ I already knew you could do this. Did you just want to show off your new cool look to Jasper?”

“No, Connie. That’s not it, though that is a perk. I mean I talked to Yellow, when I was there the last time, she said that she could make me whatever I wanted. I never took her up on it because I was going through alot, but now, I know how much you mean to me. She made it permanent.”

“WHAT?”

Connie felt her heart jump into her head. Her ears went hot, she couldn’t think. Steven walked over to her and put his arms on her shoulders, seeing her face turn.

“I thought that’s what you wanted. This way you don’t have to wait for me to get around to grow into this form, I would have gotten there eventually, but this is a bit easier.”

“A bit!? It’s cheating, I wanted you this way, sure, I keep seeing you like this and every nerve in my body wants it, but I know that’s not right.” Tears were blowing off her eyes. “I love you, but only if you’re doing this for you, not for me.”

Steven pulled away from her, he focused and shapeshifted back into his normal form. Whipping her tears away, so saw the sad look on his face that he had disappointed her.

“So you can change back?”

“Not really, she didn’t mess with my shapeshifting powers, just made that my default is all.”

“So you’ll have to go back, or you’ll, break yourself again.”

“Does it matter?”  
His words stung.  
“I need time to myself to figure out what I want to do with myself, but all I can think about is the next time I get to see you. I keep dreaming about you, all the time. I know our lives are pulling us apart, but for the small amount of time we get to see each other, I want to make you happy. You’re the ONLY person I trust to keep me in check if something happens. You saved me Connie, you, the others were there to help me sure, but you know who’s voice I heard, yours.”

His eyes flashed pink, leaving them dark orbs, familiar orbs. The same eyes she looked into that day. He clutched his head, and curled into a ball.

“Steven, what’s going on?” Connie rushed over to him.

“I don’t, know. Something’s wrong, it’s my body.”

“You have to calm down, it’s ok. I’m here.”

“No Connie, you have to get out of here, you made it angry.”

“What angry?”

He opened his eyes at her, feral. He shapeshifted back into his stronger form involuntarily. She really should have paid attention when she was reading those werewolf romance novels, cause now she felt like she was in one.

“Please Connie, go.”

The last time, he had asked her to leave and she had stayed despite her instincts was when her and her mom were at the hospital with him. This time she was going to listen to her instincts, she ran, She needed to find Jasper, and fast. The pink shield holding back the wind shattered. She was nearly blown over as she ran full speed, she looked behind her just long enough to see him leap into the air and fly towards her, those dark eyes burning into her.

_BANG_

Jasper’s feet collided with Steven's face though the wind, sending him into the dirt. Connie grabbed for her sword with her training kicking in, she planted her feet and spun around.

“No! Go! I’ll hold him off.”

Turning her feet around, she kept running toward the Warp Pad. Diving for her again, Steven was suplexed into the sand, his rib giving way under the stress. A gasp mixed with a growl came out of him. What was he doing? His brain was starting to fight back against that feeling he knew all too well, his deep seated self-loathing. This monster he had inside of himself. It was still there, a constant roar in the back of his mind. You’re not good enough. Not for her, she doesn’t really love you.

“Get out!”

He roared, standing up, only to be grabbed from behind by Jasper and held in place.

“I will do what is necessary, my Diamond. You will stop, RIGHT NOW!”

Making it back to the Warp Pad, she realized she wouldn’t be able to get it working without a Gem to activate it, as she turned to see her ride though the wind still holding onto Steven, she pulled her sword, ready for a last stand. Light, sound, the Warp Pad came to life and Pearl, Bismuth, and her parents were standing there.

“Mom! Dad! Quick! Get out of here!”

“Is it Steven?” Pearl and her mother asked in unison.

“Yes, just go!”

Bismuth reactivated the Pad and the group were gone, leaving Steven to see the last of Connie vanish. He roared.


	23. Love's Tough

“We went back to find him but the Dondai’s gone, and so is Jasper. He could be anywhere.”

Pearl was standing in the living room of the Beach House. Greg, all three Maheswaran’s, Garnet, Amethyst and Bismuth were there, and with a flash, Lapis and Peridot appeared at the Warp Pad.

“We came the second we could, did he turn into that thing again?”

“No, not from what Connie was describing. Something else is going on here.”

“He said Yellow Diamond made that form permanent, do you think it’s keeping him from turning all the way?”

“Maybe, she knows about Steven’s, em, corrupted form. She could have put a safety measure in, but we won’t know for sure until we ask her.”

“This is all my fault.” Connie had her head on her knees.

“Honey, this was his doing, not yours. Don’t feel guilty, if anything, It’s my fault for insisting I should go to the Diamond’s in the first place. I got my research done, but it’s not going to matter much if the person it’s for is worse off from it.”

“No, mom, that’s not it. I kinda, maybe, convinced him to try to shapeshift into it, I was curious if he could without his Diamond Powers. I don’t know, he looked,”

Her face was beat red. Priyanka looked over at her and looked over at her husband.

“Sweety, could you do me a favor, could you go pick us up some dinner, I’m starving and we didn’t grab anything to make tonight.”

“Sure hun, you sure you got this?” Doug asked, giving his wife a look of concern and love.

“I’ll be fine.” She patted him on the thigh as he got up.

“Could you give us a few minutes to talk?” She asked the rest of the visitors.

“Sure thing Doc, come on everyone, let’s give them some space.” Greg shooed the Gems out of the building, walking down the stairs himself.

“Connie, did you want to have sex with Steven like that?”

“Not right now!” There was a pause. “But maybe eventually.”

“It's totally normal to want to give into those fantasies, they're a normal part of growing up.”

“Sure mom, but it was more, I felt, guilty, for it. It’s his powers, I should have known better.”

“Less that you didn’t want it and more you wanted it to be his choice.”

She leaned her head against her mothers and nodded.

“Oh honey. It’s ok.”

Tears flowed out of her, the young girl couldn’t keep it in anymore. Rocking her and holding her, her mother stroked her hair. It was some time before she stopped and looked up at her mom.

“Mom, could you do something for me when you go in tomorrow?”

“Sure thing honey?”

“Could I get a prescription for birth control? These crying fits are the WORST.”

Kissing her daughter's forehead, Priyanka held her to her.

“Of course you can.”

Meanwhile, in a sand covered landscape, Jasper had moved the Dondai away from its location and placed it near the cages she used once for capturing corrupted gems. She wanted it nearby in case it helped bring him out of it. Putting the car down, she looked into the cage nearby and saw Steven lunge out at the bars, his eyes black with pink diamond pupils, growling and pulling at the bars. Jasper looked at his display, unamused.

“Look how far you’ve fallen. All this, for some human.”

“Con, nie.” It was more a wheeze then real words.

“I know her name. What would you have done if I had not intervened? Eaten her? That might have been fun to see. You came here and said you were stronger now, better, and that Yellow Diamond had made you that way. Then what did I hear, you deciding to give that strength up for what, some human who thinks she knows better. That is pathetic, and with what Yellow did, it looks like you can’t use your Diamond Powers anymore, you’re just a normal human with some fancy tricks now. I would love a rematch, once you’re sane again.”

“Con, nie. Why?”

“Are you telling me, one human telling you you're not good enough is enough to make you turn into this? Nothing but a crazed lesser lifeform. If I would have known that, I would have done things to her a long time ago.” Jasper smirked.

That did it. Leaping into the bars and snarling, Steven tried to rip the bars from the stone walls, bending them slightly. Laughing, Jasper stood just out of reach.

“If you are not going to fight, then you don’t deserve to be my Diamond and were done here, or are you going to show me, WHO. YOU. ARE.”

“I.”

His eyes began glowing.

“AM.”

Yellow veins of light, similar to Yellow's own aura began to course over his body.

“STEVEN!”

A wave of pink energy flew out of him, knocking Jasper backwards. Gasping for air, Steven looked down at his arms, flabby. His chest, pudgy but balanced. He was back. He looked over at Jasper as she got up.

“Jasper, are you ok?”

“Don’t mind me. Are you back my Diamond?”

“Yeah, I think so, I think I broke whatever Yellow put on me.”

He focused and tried to transform into his stronger form, but when he did, pain shot through him. Like spraining a muscle, he relaxed and breathed. He wouldn’t be doing that for a while.

“I knew another Diamond's power wouldn’t be enough to trap you for long my Diamond.”

“Hey, is that why you said all those things about me and Connie?” Steven was annoyed at the lengths the quartz had gone to.

“I had to jog you back to your senses. Besides, I’ve been needing a good punching bag.”

“That’s fair, I should really go apologize to Connie.”

“Connie this, Connie that. I just got you back to normal and all you can think about is that human. Why is she so much trouble to you?”

“You know Jasper, you’re right. She is the only thing I think about anymore, and that’s not good for either of us. I need to make a phone call, where’s the Dondai.”

Thumbing over at the vehicle, Steven found his coat, waved goodbye to Jasper, and headed to the nearest city.


	24. World's Best Dad

“Thanks so much, have a good one!”

Walking out of the pharmacy, Connie pulled out the small plastic compact and slipped it into her purse. Tossing the bag away, she walked over to her dad's car and got in.

“All done?”

“Yeah, care if we stop for lunch, it says I need to take it with food.”

“Sure thing, my treat.”

_do do dododo_

Answering her phone, she perked up.

“Hey Steven, you're calling early, have you stopped already?”

“Nope, going to get a few more miles done today. Was just wanting to ask, do you like horseback riding?”

“Don’t know, I always thought I would, I like horses.”

“Good to know, talk to you tonight. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Hanging up the phone, her dad saw her blushing.

“Ah, young love. I’m glad he’s ok.”

“Me too. He said he talked to his therapist about it and said that he still wants to check in with me, but he understands if it feels too clingy. I’m just glad he’s still talking to me. Did mom say when she was going to be home, or is she still working late with her paper?”

“I remember when we first started dating, finals week hit. I didn’t see your mother till a week later, looking like she just came out of a cave asking what year it was.” He chuckled as they pulled into the boardwalk and got out of the patrol car.

“Hey Mr. Fryman, me and my dad want the Mile High Cheese Fry and a soda, please.”

“One Mile High and a pop comin up. That’ll be 4.50, Have you heard from Steven lately?”

“At least once a day, he’s out on the West Coast right now.”

“Hope he plans to go to Upper Cascadia, there’s this Liquid Cheese Museum, I went as a kid. Changed my life. Here you go.”

“I’ll let him know bye Mr. Fryman.” Connie waved as her father retrieved the food and walked over to a table on the boardwalk.

“You can’t go anywhere without someone asking about him.” Her father asked.

“Now you know what I’ve been living with for the past few months. And it’s not getting any easier. Oh, I almost forgot.” She opened the compact and popped the first pill in her mouth and swallowed, chugging down some of the soda.

“Look Connie, I’m really proud of you for making this choice, but I do have to ask, have you and Steven ever,”

“No dad, I swear we haven’t, but I would tell you if we did.”

A sigh of relief came out of him.

“I’m not much for the gory details. Just to know that you’re being safe is all I care about.”

“Thanks dad, and yeah, I mean, taking these is mostly for my mood swings but, I can’t help it if me and Steven love each other. It’s weird, I never used to use that word alot before, that I love him. We were just, us, you know. Jam buds, besties, Stevonnie, not just Connie and Steven. We had our own lives, but they always intersected. Maybe that's why I thought about him so much when he was gone. I’m rambling aren’t I?”

“Ramble away, I’m just glad you can talk to me.”

“Do you have any trouble like this with mom?”

“Oh did I. You mom was always sure she knew what she wanted in her life, always ready to take that step, but when it came to me, she just wasn’t. I waited for a long time, and I was about ready to give up, when she told me she would.”

“Wow, mom strung you out for a while didn’t see?” Smirking at her father's misfortune, she stuffed another wad of fries in her mouth.

“Yeah, we were dating all throughout college and when she finally graduated, she got her internship at the hospital and I was given an opportunity to head out west. I was getting ready to tell her goodbye when she told me she wanted me to stay.”

“That sounds down right cheesy.” Stretching the yellow substance coated fries to run home the analogy, Connie took another bite.

“We were married that next spring and 9 months to the day almost, we had you. I’ve never been happier.”

Do you think me and Steven will ever get that? I know in my heart we will, but, how do I tell him? You said you almost left mom because she was taking too long, how do I know when too long is?”

“You’re still young, you have plenty of time. Promise.”

Giving her dad a hug, she finished eating.


	25. Wild Horses

Hanging up his phone, he looked over at the horseback riding pamphlet he had just picked up from the ranch he drove passed, 80 more miles to go until he got to Upper Cascadia. Winding up and down the coastal road, he was reminded of his home in Beach City, and everything he left there. Even this far away, he was still reminded of home. Would that ever change? Would he ever truly leave that place. But why? Connie said she had until the end of the year to pick a school and that was at least 6 months away.  
“Maybe she could,”  
The voice in his head was silent by something beautiful, he slowed the car down and stopped. Getting out he looked around and grabbed his phone, jumping from the roof to get a better shot. Snapping the picture he floated down and texted the picture to Connie, a beautiful field of pink flowers.   
“Where are you?” The text replied.  
Texting her the GPS to her, he began to get back in his car.  
“Hold on, I need to go get Lion.” His phone buzzed.  
It wasn’t long before a sound of a lion’s roar emerged from a pink portal, along with Connie on her back. Dismounting, she ran over to look. It was just like her dream. Flowers daning in the wind.  
“Steven, I can’t believe it’s real.”

“Wait, you’ve seen it too?”  
Connie turned and looked at Steven.

“I dreamed about it.”

“Yeah, me too. A while ago, and you were in it. So I thought you might like it.”

“Wait, but that doesn’t make sense. Are you psychic powers that strong.”

“Huh? Oh, I don’t, no, that couldn’t be it.” Steven was getting nervous.

“But what if it is, Steven, how can I miss you if all I do is see you’re dreams?”

Steven held her hand, it was then she realized how upset she was getting. Were the pills not working? Maybe they needed a bit to kick in.

“Connie, I would never, ever, make you feel like your life isn’t yours. I really mean that. Please, you have to believe me.” His eyes were watering.

“So what was your dream about?” She asked after a long pause.

“That you and I were here, with everyone, and you were, happy.”

“That’s, not what I dreamed. I dreamed it was just you and me, and we were, happy.”

She curled up into him as she held him, him burying his face in her hair. The sun was fading before she finally pulled away.

“I should go, I told my dad I needed to come see you. Thanks for everything Steven, I love you so much.”

“And I love you.”

A soft gentle kiss and Connie remounted Lion, roaring back toward Beach City.


	26. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone! This is the final chapter and I do love all the comments and all the kudos. I will be making more but I want to take a break, 26 chapters, over 20,000 words in just under 2 weeks. Whew! Without further adieu, THE FINALE!

One year later, Connie was driving with her folks in a You-Move-It truck to the campus at Upper Cascadia University. Lion was sleeping on the roof, enjoying the scenery. As they drove down the winding beach roads, they stopped at a new road that had been paved weaving into a hillside. Stopping towards the bottom and parking the truck, they walked up the road to where the Dondai was parked next to the shell of a house.  
“Steven, we’re here!” Connie called out.

Jumping off the roof and floating down, Steven landed and Connie looked up at him. He had his shirt wrapped around his head which he quickly donned, but she could see that he was getting more toned, but not quite as much as his Quartz transformation. Walking over he gave Connie a hug and shook her father’s hand.

“So this is it?” Connie's father asked, proud of the work the young man had done.

“Yeah it’s not much but it’ll be home soon enough, I used the floor plans of the beach house so the layout might look familiar.”

“And you’re not getting any help?”

“Don’t really need it, though bismuth did say that once I have the basic structure built she was coming up to install a Warp Pad.”

“So you’re still coming with us right?” Connie excitingly asked.

“Wouldn’t miss it, let me just pack up everything and I’ll follow you guys down.”  
Steven began to put all of his tools into his heavy lock box, just in case.

“Steven, I wanted to give this to you now, if that’s ok.” Priyanka said, handing over a folder filled with papers.  
The cover was pink with it's title on the front reading “Human/Gem Comparative Physiology by Priyanka Maheswaran."  
“It’s all done. I figured you’d want a copy to read over, just in case. When you talk to your GP, give them this, It should help so you can get the treatment you need.”

He placed the folder in the large pink chest from Lion that he’s been living out of, and gave her a hug. She stood there stunned before returning it. Pulling away, Steven grabbed his jacket and headed over to the Dondai. The two vehicles drove down the road toward the University and once there, Steven got out and held Connie's hand as they ascended the steps of the main building, into their new lives.


End file.
